Crediting and debiting an electronic gaming machine in a casino environment

Abstract

Devices, systems and methods are provided to enable casino operators to provide printed tangible items for patron uses, such as lottery tickets. Such embodiments accept tangible indicators of financial consideration from patrons, such as currency or tickets associated with certain verifiable values, such as valid and winning lottery tickets and other forms of consideration which a patron can provide to a casino in exchange for one or more points.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A bill validator for use in a cabinet of an electronic gaming machine in a casino gaming environment, the bill validator comprising:
 an inlet for receiving a document associated with a first value defined in a first currency; and 
 a communication component configured to communicably couple to the electronic gaming machine; wherein: 
 in response to receiving the document, the bill validator converts the first value to a second value without involvement of a processor associated with the electronic gaming machine or a player tracking system, the second value defined in a second currency different from the first currency and based on an exchange rate between the first currency and the second currency. 
 
     
     
       2. The bill validator of  claim 1 , wherein the bill validator is configured to report the second value to the electronic gaming machine using the communication component. 
     
     
       3. The bill validator of  claim 1 , wherein the bill validator is configured to receive the exchange rate from a server. 
     
     
       4. The bill validator of  claim 1 , wherein the bill validator is configured to select the second currency based on a tax reporting requirement. 
     
     
       5. The bill validator of  claim 1 , wherein the bill validator is configured to select the second currency based on a location of the casino gaming environment. 
     
     
       6. The bill validator of  claim 1 , wherein the bill validator is configured to select the second currency, in part, on a result of gameplay at the electronic gaming machine. 
     
     
       7. The bill validator of  claim 1 , wherein the bill validator is configured to select the second currency based on a preference of a player of the electronic gaming machine. 
     
     
       8. The bill validator of  claim 1 , wherein the bill validator is configured to select the second currency based on an instruction from a server. 
     
     
       9. The bill validator of  claim 8 , wherein the bill validator is configured to communicate with the server using a different communication component than the communication component that the bill validator is configured to use to communicate with the electronic gaming machine. 
     
     
       10. The bill validator of  claim 1 , wherein the bill validator is configured to validate the document. 
     
     
       11. A bill validator for use in a cabinet of an electronic gaming machine in a casino gaming environment, the bill validator comprising:
 an inlet for receiving a document associated with a first value defined in a first currency; and 
 a communication component configured to communicably couple to the electronic gaming machine; wherein the bill validator is configured to:
 transmit the first value to a server; 
 receive from the server a second value converted from the first value based on a second currency and a currency exchange rate without involvement of a processor associated with the electronic gaming machine or a player tracking system; and 
 communicate to the electronic gaming machine, using the communication component, that the bill validator has received the document and the document is of the second value. 
 
 
     
     
       12. The bill validator of  claim 11 , wherein the bill validator is configured to validate the document. 
     
     
       13. The bill validator of  claim 12 , wherein the bill validator is configured to transmit the first value upon validating the document. 
     
     
       14. The bill validator of  claim 12 , wherein the bill validator is configured to communicate to the electronic gaming machine that the bill validator has received the document and the document is of the second value upon validating the document. 
     
     
       15. The bill validator of  claim 11 , wherein the bill validator is configured to transmit the first value upon receiving the document. 
     
     
       16. The bill validator of  claim 11 , wherein the bill validator is configured to communicate to the electronic gaming machine that the bill validator has received the document and the document is of the second value upon receiving the second value. 
     
     
       17. An electronic gaming machine comprising:
 at least one communication component; and 
 at least one processor configured to:
 use the at least one communication component to communicably couple to a value input device selected from a group comprising a personal mobile device and a bill validator; and 
 receive a cash-in event from the value input device, the cash-in event having a first value defined in a first currency converted by the value input device without involvement of a processor associated with the electronic gaming machine or a player tracking system from a second value defined in a second currency different from the first currency based on an exchange rate received by the value input device from a casino system server. 
 
 
     
     
       18. The electronic gaming machine of  claim 17 , wherein in response to a cash-out event, the electronic gaming machine is configured to print a ticket having a third value defined in the second currency. 
     
     
       19. The electronic gaming machine of  claim 18 , wherein the third value of the ticket is based, at least in part, on a premium casino service. 
     
     
       20. The electronic gaming machine of  claim 19 , wherein the premium casino service is selected from a group comprising:
 a lottery service; 
 a sports or fantasy sports betting service; and 
 a pari-mutuel betting service.